Four Counties Affected

4:03 pm

Fri May 30, 2014

Here We Go: Fire Season Begins In Oregon

When the hills turn brown, the arrow moves to the right. This fire danger sign greets drivers entering Ashland from the north.

Credit Geoffrey Riley/JPR

There wasn't much suspense, and now it's over: fire season begins at the start of the day (12:01 AM) on Monday, June 2, 2014 for Josephine, Jackson, Klamath and Lake Counties.

The Oregon Department of Forestry announced the declaration of fire season early Friday.

The declaration puts a set of restrictions in place on activities that could potentially cause fires to start: debris burning, use of certain kinds of ammunition, and logging, among others (restrictions list HERE).

ODF declares the start of fire season when vegetation dries out and fires become potentially harder to control.

The season begins just a day earlier than in 2013, another dry year. CalFire declared fire season in most Northern California counties in the middle of May this year.